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Minutes - City Council - 02/18/2014
CITY COUNCIL 18 FEBRUARY 2014 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, 18 February 2014, at 7:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: P. Mackenzie, Chair; R. Greco, H. Riehle, P. Nowak, C. Shaw Also Present: K. Dorn, City Manager; T. Hubbard, Deputy City Manager; T. Whipple, Police Chief; J. Rabidoux, Public Works Director; B. Bull, J. Lees, S. Dooley, M. Lauder, T. Harrington, S. Quest, P. Clemens, N. Sugarman, L. Ravin, C. Hurd 1. Agenda Review: Additions, deletions or changes in order of Agenda items: Mr. Dorn asked to remove the Disbursements from the Consent Agenda. 2. Comments & Questions from the Public, not related to Agenda items: No issues were raised. 3. Announcements & City Manager's Report: Mr. Dorn: Talks are ongoing with the School Superintendent revolving around long-range planning, the CIP and the city's infrastructure an.d ability to serve the public. The School District will be updating the study they did a number of years ago. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee has reached out to experts, including those out of state, the City of Burlington, and Champlain Housing Trust. They will be formulating a plan and are looking to bring it to the City Council in April. Councilors reported on events they had attended Ms. Greco noted this was her last meeting as a City Councilor and reflected on her past service. Other Council members thanked her for her dedicated service. Ms. Harrington noted that at the Energy Kick-Off meeting, three City Councilors were present and this was not warned as a Council meeting, which she felt was a violation of the law. 4. Consent Agenda: a. Sign Disbursements b. Approve Minutes for 21 January and 3 February 2014 c. Approve Resolution establishing a Special Fund for sick bank At the request of the City Manager, the disbursements were removed from the Consent Agenda. Ms. Riehle moved to approve the Consent Agenda minus the Disbursements. Mr. Shaw seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Update on Police Related Issues: Chief Whipple advised that they have been backfilling positions from retirements, etc., and are gradually recovering from understaffing situations. One new officer has completed all training and is now on the job; another will be within a month. Two other persons are going through or will enter the Police'Academy this year. A new dispatcher has been hired,and there is now administrative help 16 hours a week for payroll, etc. A new animal control office has been hired for 14 hours a week. A positive result of these hirings is that there are now 3 officers back in the schools. Chief Whipple said he appreciated the community input received at recent forums about what the Police can do to make people feel more safe. The Chief cited two movies regarding addiction and drug related problems which "put a face" on the opiate problem. He noted the system is becoming more mindful of this and is concentrating on hunting down the providers of drugs and are trying to connect victims with appropriate agencies for help. The Police are also trying to disrupt the "cash for stolen goods" chain. One suggestion is to require those who purchase goods to pay by check instead of cash. Ms. Nowak a'sked for an update on the telephone cash-in booth at the Mall. The Chief said they still oppose this but are at least getting a picture and thumb print of every individual cashing in a phone. There appears to be no interest in the legislature to control this. Mr. Shaw asked the size of the Burlington Police Dept. Chief Whipple said theyhave 100 sworn officers and no part time officers. South Burlington has 41 sworn officers and no part time. There is a bill in the legislature now to eliminate part time police. Chief Whipple said the belief is that all officers should be held to the same level of training. Mr. Shaw asked about the jurisdiction of County officers. Chief Whipple said this is a "fuzzy" . . issue but noted they have full coverage in the State of Vermont. He also noted that the South Burlington Police Department received a grant to do county-wide traffic enforcement. Mr. Lees asked if Chief Whipple could cite the 3 counselors for the open meeting violation. The Chief said that is beyond his purview. 6. East Terrace Issues and Potential Ordinance: Chief Whipple said he reviewed records for over a year, and most of the issues in that area involve the intersection at Williston Road, not on East Terrace. There were 2 parking complaints in January, 2013, and those were the only ones in that year. There were also 2 "noisy party" calls to the same address in 2013. In the last month, they have received four calls from the same resident regarding illegal parking. Those cars were ticketed but not towed. The Chief noted that sometimes those parking illegally on the street are residents. Ms. Riehle noted that one resident was concerned with lighting at the end of the street. Chief Whipple said there were 2 burglaries on the street. They are willing to develop a liaison with the neighborhood. Ms. Bull said parking has been a problem for some time, and this fall it was quite bad. Ms. Lauder said her concern is the changing nature of the community with homes being converted to student housing. She said there are 6 or 8 cars in every driveway now, and almost no children on the street. She estimated 15-20% of the homes are student rented. Council members reviewed the city's regulations that no more than 4 unrelated people can occupy a home and that if there is rental housing in a home, the home must be owneroccupied. The problem is with enforcement of these regulations with the limited staff. Ms. Dooley noted the student rental situation is also depleting the stock •of affordable housing. The consultant to the Affordable Housing C9mmittee said this was "a crisis in at least one neighborhood." She suggested the possibility of a "rental registry" for the city. Mr. Shaw said this might be an avenue for the new Fire Marshall to explore as part of a potential rental registry. Mr. Clemens said there are homes still being bought by families, but he shared the noise and parking concerns. He didn't feel an ordinance will address the parking and noise concerns. Ms. Quest cited similar problems with the first 10 homes on Spear Street. Ms. Mackenzie su,ggested representatives of the Homeowners Association meet with the City Manager, UVM representatives, the Administrative officer, etc., to discuss issues and to see what neighbors would like to see happen through the process. Ms. Ravin, noted that UVM. has a campus master plan which includes a potential property acquisition map. Part of Spear Street is on that map and the University would consider purchases, if offered. To date, UVM has not purchased any of those homes. She suggested thafGail Champnois of UVM be part of a discussion with neighbors and the city. Ms. Sugarman cited some positive benefits of having the students nearby, including help with snow shoveling, etc. She said students are not the problemj it is the landlords. Mr. Rabidoux noted the City 'of Burlington has 11 code enforcement people and charges $100 per rental unit for registration. This covers rental inspections, "related occupants," fire inspections, deck limitations, etc. Burlington also has 4 Police officers who exclusively handle parking enforcement. South Burlington has none. Mr. Shaw noted that with a rental unit fee, enforcement of regulations could pay for itself. 7. Water and Sewer Minimum Charges: Mr. Shaw said he had been approached by a resident who asked why there was a minimum charge whether he used that amount or not. He felt this left no incentive to conserve water. Mr. Shaw wondered what percent of charges a "minimum" and what percent were over the 1000 cubic feet. Mr. Rabidoux said there are no utilities in Vermont that don't charge a minimum feel. He said the fee covers such things as" water breaks, hydrant/valve repairs, CWD and city administration, billing and metering, fire protection, water losses in the system, past debt, future capital and operating permits. The majority of costs are fixed costs which don't relate to usage. Mr. Rabidoux noted some charges are made directly to developers. Mr. Rabidoux noted the city has 6000 accounts. In the last billing cycle, 600 residents were charged the minimum. Ms. Mackenzie asked if the city is OK for the future with current fees, etc. Mr. Rabidoux said there is sufficient revenue projected for all future needs. He felt there wasn't a lot of room to squeeze the existing budget. Members felt that given the numbers, it was not worth pursuing the issue. Mr. Dorn said it was a good question to ask and raises the community's level of awareness. Mr. Rabidoux took the opportunity to ask residents not to build snow forts up against the road. The collapse of two of these because of traffic vibration has resulted in tragedies. Ms. Mackenzie noted the number of calls she has received praising the work of Public Works during this difficult year for weather. 8. Review of Town Meeting Procedure: Mr. Dorn said the official warnings w'i11 be in The Other Paper. An overview of both the city and school budgets will also be in The Other Paper. The March 3 "Town Meeting" will include presentations of both budgets followed by candidate forums. 9. Other Business: 1. Items held from Consent Agenda Mr. Dorn said he asked that Disbursements be held because several invoices were received after the agenda was set. He asked that the Council add these to the Disbursements being approved. Ms. Greco moved to approve all disbursements including those provided at this meeting. Ms. Riehle seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Bike Rack: Ms. Riehle asked the status of the request to add "littering" to the bike rack. Mr. Dorn said this had been delayed pending a discussion of reviewing all ordinances. He noted that he and the City Attorney had that conversation today and are considering how to review ordinances. Some are out-of-date, some are unenforceable, and some are not in compliance with State law. He will come back to the Council with a recommendation in the near future. As there was no further business to come before the Council, Mr. Shaw moved to adjourn. Ms. Riehle s.econded. Motion passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m. , Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works. South Burlington Water Dept. Accounts Payable Check Register Date: 02/19/14 Date Check No. Paid To Memo Amount Paid 2/19/2014 2480 Samuel Bouchard 84.13 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 1/28/2014 VI-13265 REFUND 84.13 84.13 2/19/2014 2481 Champlain Water District 53,456.31 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 1/31/2014 VI-13267 SBWD-285 53,456.31 53,456.31 2/19/2014 2482 Champlain Water District 115,904.42 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 1/31/2014 VI-13261 SBWD-277 849.31 849.31 1/31/2014 VI-13262 JANUARY CONSUMPTION 115,055.11 115,055.11 2/19/2014 2483 Jerry Dagen 101.73 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 1/28/2014 VI-13264 REFUND 101.73 101.73 2/19/2014 2484 Fastenal Company 29.21 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 1/30/2014 VI-13270 VTBUR182664 29.21 29.21 2/19/2014 2485 David & Diane Ravenscroft 166.04 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 1/28/2014 VI-13266 REFUND 166.04 166.04 2/19/2014 2486 City Of South Burlington 1,527.46 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/5/2014 VI-13271 ADD'L SEWER 1,527.46 1,527.46 2/19/2014 2487 City Of South Burlington 29,221.68 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/5/2014 VI-13272 ADD'L STORMWATER 29,221.68 29,221.68 Printed: February 12, 2014 Page 1 of 2 South Burlington Water Dept. Accounts Payable Check Register Date: 02/19/14 Date Check No. Paid To Memo Amount Paid Total Amount Paid: 200,490.98 SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Printed: February 12, 2014 Page 2 of 2 CITY COUNCIL 21 JANUARY 2014 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, 21 January 2014, at 7:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: P. Nowak, Acting Chair; R. Greco, H. Riehle, C. Shaw Also Present: K. Dorn, City Manager; T. Hubbard, Deputy City Manager; J. Ladd, Human Director; P. Blizzard, A. Voldman, E. Shaw, T. Harrington 1. Agenda Review: No changes were made to the Agenda. 2. Comments & Questions from the Public not related to agenda items: No issues were raised. 3. Announcements & City Manager’s Report: Mr. Dorn: At the last budget meeting, a member of the public asked about a cheaper way to get the Annual Report to the public rather than by mail. The City Attorney believes there are alternatives, but this will have to be worked out with the School Department. The City Charter says “…made available…” but doesn’t say how. Since the current deadline has passed, Mr. Dorn suggested coming back with a recommendation for the primary or national election. A special meeting will be needed next Monday to approve warnings for the March election. There may also be an executive session. The city received a thank you note from the citizen who had requested the installation of a street light in the Airport area where there has been a lot of vandalism. Public Works was able to do that. Members of the Council reported on meetings and events they had attended. 4. Consent Agenda: a. Sign Disbursement b. Approve Minutes for 11 January 2014 c. Approve CCRPC FY2015 Unified Planning Work Program requested projects d. Review November 2014 financials Ms. Greco asked that disbursements be pulled from the Consent Agenda. CITY COUNCIL, 21 JANUARY 2014, PAGE 2 Ms. Riehle moved to approve items b, c, and d of the Consent Agenda. Mr. Shaw seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Presentation and Analysis of Pension Program: Mr. Blizzard, Client Portfolio Manager for SEI, explained how the 31 August transition to SEI occurred. He noted the cash could be invested that same day. SEI took over benefit payments and received $24,500,000 on day one. Ms. Nowak thanked SEI for not having any lag in investments. Mr. Blizzard noted some minor changes were made in investments. These will be on the next consent agenda. Mr. Blizzard drew attention to the executive summer and the 11.3% return year to date. He also reviewed market drivers. It is SEI’s belief that there will be a 7‐9% return from equities this year, not quite as good as last year. Ms. Nowak asked Mr. Blizzard to explain what can be done to protect against negative returns. Mr. Blizzard explained the strategies that can be used for this protection. The major concern is how to manage the fixed income portion of the portfolio. Mr. Blizzard also explained the strategy to do this. Both Ms. Nowak and Mr. Shaw asked what assurance there is to South Burlington that they will have money to cover the pension. Mr. Blizzard said there is great diversification, even within each fund. There are 45 different managers with the funds. Money is safe at SEI but could lose value at any time. Ms. Nowak also noted the due diligence of city management and the pension company. They become the fiduciary of the plan, and this doesn’t happen in other situations. Ms. Nowak asked why SEI recommends no cash sitting in an account. Mr. Blizzard said they believe in 100% investment at all times. He noted that SEI manager $280,000,000,000. Ms. Nowak noted the amount of work for city administration to make sure checks go out, etc. She asked Ms. Ladd to explain what this means to the city. Ms. Ladd said they can look up pension information at any time. This gives comfort to retirees. She also noted the transition to SEI was seamless for retirees. Ms. Nowak noted the next report will be in April. Mr. Hubbard thanked Pension Committee members: Spencer Baker, Donna Kinville, Todd Gregory, Dan Boyer, Troy Porter, and Janice Ladd. CITY COUNCIL, 21 JANUARY 2014, PAGE 3 6. Presentation of Draft Actuarial Report: Ms. Voldman and Mr. Shea presented the Actuarial Report. Ms. Voldman explained that the purpose of the report is to recommend a contribution. That number has already been budgeted for the city. She noted that the assets in the plan are enough to cover most of the benefits. She added that the news is good. Ms. Nowak noted concern with the volatility of the market. The market was generous this year, and she was not concerned if the city overfunded. Ms. Voldman said she would like to see that volatility lessened. Ms. Voldman said one of their recommendations is that the city amortize the past service liability over 10 years. The current funding policy is to pay the normal cost plus the 20‐year amortization of unfunded accrued liability, and that is good. Ms. Voldman noted that when she presented last year, she provided projections for how the numbers would play out. Actually, it was much better. She felt the city should discuss how they want to deal with that so there can be a determination of what to project for next year. Ms. Nowak stressed again the concern with market volatility and said that underfunding is not an acceptable position. It is better to overfund. Ms. Voldman said they are not overfunding but would like to see the volatility lessened. Ms. Voldman noted that the current funded ration is 106%. Last year this was at 101%. Ms. Voldman also noted that they have updated the mortality to 2013 figures. Mr. Shaw asked if this is because people are living longer. Ms. Voldman said it is, but this is beginning to level out. Assets above PVAB have gone from $200,704 last year to $1,300,000 this year. Ms. Voldman said they are very pleased with this. Ms. Greco asked how many people are currently collecting benefits. Ms. Voldman said 59, which is a good amount considering there are 208 people in the plan. Ms. Voldman noted that what had been driving the underfunding in the past was the lowering of the retirement age for public safety employees. Ms. Nowak added that the lowering of the retirement age was also combined with the worst years of the market. CITY COUNCIL, 21 JANUARY 2014, PAGE 4 Ms. Voldman then reviewed the plan experience liabilities. The plan has 12 new participants. There were 4 retirees last year and 7 employees left the plan. Ms. Voldman then reviewed some of the new accounting standards which will change financial reporting. If a plan is not well funding, a lower discount rate will have to be used. This doesn’t apply to South Burlington, but reporting for the city will still be closer to reality (i.e., the $6,000,000 bond will not appear as it does now). Ms. Nowak noted that with the city getting more information, the 7.5% figure may be changed. Ms. Voldman said the city can speak with people at SEI as to whether this is a reasonable number going forward. 7. City Street Lights (adequacy/number) at various locations: Mr. Rabideau said that to the best of his knowledge almost all of the lights have been LED adapted. Ms. Nowak noted there had been a question as to whether there were any inadequacies in city lighting based on public input to you. She asked if Public Works was able to keep up with repairs, safety concerns, etc. Ms. Greco noted there was a question of adequate lighting for bikers. Ms. Riehle added the further concern with lighting on streets where there are “hot spots” for crime. Mr. Rabideau said the feedback he gets corresponds with the “hot spots” concerns. People think additional lighting will address the problem. He noted he has no line item for street lights. There are also some places in the city where it is more expensive to install lighting (e.g. based on distance from power source). There is also a problem because of the preponderance of city lights that are owned by Green Mountain Power at a rate that has to be approved by the Public Service Board. Mr. Rabideau noted the city pays the same amount whether a light is on, off, or has to be fixed several times. Mr. Rabideau mentioned being in touch with a company in Europe and volunteering the City as a demonstration site with other street light options. 8. Status of City Owned Structure Next to Wheeler House Members questioned the safety and security of the structure, any liability issues, and why building has not been torn down yet or whether the structure could be used for a fire drill. Mr. Rabideau explained that the structure has been cleared of any environmental concerns such as asbestos, etc. When a building is demo, the State of Vermont must be notified so that they can make sure all the pieces are in order. The City’s Planning & Zoning also needs to be CITY COUNCIL, 21 JANUARY 2014, PAGE 5 notified so that the permit can be pulled and recorded. The reason this structure has not been torn down is because of costs associated with rental of demo equipment and disposal fees. The estimated cost to tear down the structure is $10,000‐$12,000 and there are no funds or budget for it. Mr. Rabideau reassured the members that access to the building is secured and he is not aware of any crimes around this structure. Building is not costing the City any money as there are no utilities or site maintenance. Mr. Rabideau recommended checking in with Mr. Hubbard around the liability issues. 9. Other Business: a. Items held from Consent Agenda From the Consent Agenda Ms. Greco asked a few questions on the City Hall Warrant. After these questions were answered Ms. Nowak moved to approve item 4a. Sign Disbursements from the Consent Agenda. Mr. Shaw seconded. Motion passed unanimously. b. Bike Rack 1. East Terrace Ordinance 2. Policy regarding landscaping City‐owned land and Request from Hadley Road. 3. Cost of development and open space Mr. Shaw asked to discuss on a future agenda the Water Department minimum charge for usage of Water & Sewer. Ms. Nowak wanted to make sure for discussion about cost of development and open space were looked at from both sides. Ms. Greco wanted an update on when the Mayor of Burlington would be attending a City Council meeting. The Chair, Ms. Mckenzie is working on when that will be happening. She wasn’t present at the meeting to give an update. Mr. Dorn wanted to remind Council that there would be a Special City Council meeting on Monday, January 27 at 6:30pm. Ms. Greco asked to add to a future agenda a discussion on extending Interim Zoning. As there was no further business to come before the Council, Ms. Nowak moved to adjourn. Mr. Shaw seconded. Motion passed unanimously. _______________________, Clerk Resolution to Create a Sick Bank Reserve Fund Whereas, the City Charter, section 13‐310 (7) states, “The City Council and the School Board, by their own actions, may establish reserve funds to pay for public improvements, replacement of equipment, and planned or unplanned operating expenditures. Monies to be deposited in any fund shall be included in a city or school district budget and shall not be excluded in calculating the net cost of operation pursuant to subsection 1309(a) of this chapter. Reserve funds shall be kept in separate accounts and invested in the same manner as other public funds. The City Council and the School Board may, from time to time, expend monies in those funds for purposes for which they were established without voter approval.”; and, Whereas, the City Auditor has identified the sick band as a $3.18 million dollar liability, and has recommended that appropriate actions be taken to address this liability; and, Whereas, City Management recommends the establishment of this reserve fund to be used solely for this purpose; and, Whereas, the current FY14 budget currently includes an appropriation of $200,000 to be utilized as sick bank funds; and, Whereas, it is the intention of the City to continue to appropriate funds to decrease this liability; and, Now, Therefore, Be it Resolved, that the City Council hereby creates a Sick Bank Reserve Fund whose purpose is to secure and disburse these funds as deemed appropriate with due diligence and oversight by the City: and, Furthermore, Be It Resolved, that all money placed in this Reserve Fund shall only be disbursed for the uses identified in this Resolution. Dated the 18th day of February, 2014 SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL ________________________ ________________________ Pam Mackenzie, Chair Chris Shaw, Clerk ________________________ ________________________ Pat Nowak, Vice Chair Rosanne Greco ________________________ Helen Riehle